


Lemons Are Sour But Also Flavourful

by Zankai_88



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Swap, Arranged Marriage, Attempt at Humor, BFF BaekSoo, M/M, Model Jongin, University graduation, fashion design student kyungsoo, rich kaisoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:47:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24969175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zankai_88/pseuds/Zankai_88
Summary: Being Do Kyungsoo had been easy for the past twenty two years of his life, but just six months prior to Kyungsoo’s graduation, life decided to gift him with an endless supply of lemons. Now it was up to him if he wanted to make the best (lemonade) out of them or let the sourness get to him.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 32
Kudos: 89
Collections: The GraduaXion





	Lemons Are Sour But Also Flavourful

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the mods for organising this fest and brightening our lives in the middle of a pandemic. Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2020! 
> 
> I really wanted to finish this story within the fest deadlines, but I failed to do so, but I promise I will finish this. I have it all planned out. 
> 
> So I hope you enjoy the first chapter of it, as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> another note, the title and summary are mostly metaphorical >_>

Kyungsoo had heard of the phrase, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But being the youngest out of three siblings and born with a silver spoon — in fact several silver spoons, even though the saying didn’t go that way, but one should know, he really came from one of the top five wealthiest families in all of South Korea — his life had been as lemon free as one can imagine. 

His eldest brother, Seungsoo, was destined to lead the family business.  _ Destined _ , because that is how it felt to Kyungsoo, from the stories he had heard from his uncle Junmyeon. It was as if the entire family tree, including the portraits of the long dead ones with creepy eyes, were waiting for his mother to give birth to a son who’d be then honoured (heh) to shoulder the responsibility of his legacy, no matter what. 

Next was his older sister, Areum, she was only expected to grow up well so that she could be married off to someone as rich and worthy. But the Dos were nothing if not over-ambitious. She ended up doing a double degree in business and psychology. She went on to start a subsidiary of their company which was also completely her brain child. She had her hands full with probably several other side projects as well but Kyungsoo seriously had lost count. 

Then came Kyungsoo. He was the most coddled one out of all of his siblings and also the one with the most freedom. His parents never really had any set expectations for him, almost as if he was never part of their future planning, but it was better to not spiral down that dark train of thought. This was not meant to be a sob story. 

He probably should have been suspicious though, about just how effortless everything was for him. He wanted to pursue fashion design as a career, along with Baekhyun, his best friend, though the latter was more interested in textiles. The older of the two had had to fight tooth and nail with his parents before they finally relented. For Kyungsoo, he had just informed his folks that he had made it through the qualifying exams and the rest was history. 

Which is why, he really wasn’t prepared when suddenly a colossal sized lemon was dropped on him. A lemon in the form of an arranged marriage, of all things. Just six months prior to his graduation. 

He can probably make enough lemonade to feed the entire country.  
  


"Mom, really?!" Kyungsoo whined for the thousandth time probably, pacing around his parents' bedroom. 

"The Kims are our friends, my dear. We must help them. Isn't that how that saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed?" His mother tried to reason. 

Wait, the Kims? Which Kims? They needed to be more specific. If they were such best buddies of his family, won't he be at least aware? Friendships in the circle of society that they were in always seemed very suspicious to him, if he was being honest. 

"You don't even have to marry the boy now. Just get engaged." Kyungsoo’s father chimed in, trying to be helpful. 

"Why can't they wait six more months? Why the sudden urgency? And why did you even agree? Why me? Why can't Areum Noona marry him?—" 

"Kyungsoo." It was his dad's 'serious talk' voice and he had hardly ever had to deal with it. Which is why it successfully managed to stop him mid ramble. 

Kyungsoo flopped down on the bed, face first. Considering he was being asked to throw away his hard earned freedom and also the opportunities to use his precious degree, he was a little scared at how he was almost resigned to his fate. Okay that was tad dramatic. Still, he should be putting up more of a fight but his mother's delicate fingers had started carding through his overgrown hair. It almost lulled him to sleep. 

"But really, I must ask this one thing. What is the urgency?" Because Kyungsoo was dying here. Of curiosity at least. 

There was a pause. A long pause. It made him lift his head and look at the hesitation in his parents' eyes. Oh no, did this mean his future husband was bad news? No, no, knowing all that, his parents wouldn’'t agree to this arrangement. Right? It was starting to sound like he was just trying to reassure himself. His throat suddenly went a little dry. Why was this his life? 

Finally, after a supposedly silent conversation amongst his parents, his mother spoke up. "Well, the Kim boy is at that age, you know, where suitors start pouring in like hungry coyotes." 

He saw his father grimace at that particular choice of words. 

His mother continued, "And the Kims had always wanted to marry him into our family—"

"Like I suggested before, there's Areum noona—"

"She's not his type" Mom quickly refuted.

"Well, beggars can't be choosers!" Kyungsoo snapped, he really didn't mean to, but his patience was wearing thin. 

"No, you don't understand." Dad started, and then stopped. That hesitation from earlier was back. What the heck?

"He doesn't swing that way." His mother finished. 

Huh.

Kyungsoo was stunned. Not in a million years would he have thought that the conversation would turn in this direction. Another eternity passed, before something else struck him. 

"How do you know if  _ I _ swing that way?" he asked slowly. 

"Please, Kyungsoo, who do you think I am?! Of course, I know", his mother scoffed, "plus that would have been the first thing you objected to if you  _ didn't swing that way" _ , she continued. 

His dad just shrugged.

Well, damn. He just got dragged by his mommy dearest. More like, dragged out of the closet. 

Later he'd realise he also forgot to ask them who he was actually getting married to.   


“Hey, Kyungsoo! Kyungsoooooooo!!” Baekhyun was waving his arms frantically, unnecessarily. Heavily astigmatic or not, Kyungsoo could never miss his best friend’s highlighter inspired wardrobe. Plus the bright orange hair. 

_ Neons are back in trend again, baby peach! What kind of a would-be-designer doesn't keep up with the forecasts?!  _

Kyungsoo could hear the reprimand in his head just from that earlier thought alone. 

It actually suited Baekhyun, with his extra bright, larger than life personality and what not, but Kyungsoo wouldn't be caught dead admitting that in front of him.

He himself preferred black, making sure it's all the same shade too. That was tough work. 

Kyungsoo power walked the short distance to their college entrance, lugging all his pattern-making papers, tools and fabric samples with him. Ah, he left his laptop in his car. Fuck that, he would get it later if he needed it. 

They were beginning on their final graduation project. It was all in the brain storming stage right now. For a week (or three or five, really nobody kept count), they were just going to research and try to come up with a theme or direction on which each of their final collections would be based on. (He’d definitely need to get his laptop.) Kyungsoo already had his colour theme in mind. Black, of course. Technically, it was reverse engineering in a way and he knew his project guide was going to be horrified at this revelation but it was  _ his _ collection, so  _ his  _ decisions. At this point, nothing was going to change his mind. 

As soon as he reached Baekhyun, he was pulled into a side hug by his beagle friend who then proceeded to pinch his cheeks. Kyungsoo couldn't even do anything in retaliation. Actually, one could say, he was used to it by now. 

“What’s up, peachy?” Baekhun greeted, making a show of checking out his backside in all its sweatpants covered glory. 

“The sky— Ah! That hurt!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, rubbing at the spot he just got smacked at.

“I’m asking seriously!” 

“Eh well, nothing much. Apart from, you know.” He shrugged. He had called Baekhyun last night, in a frenzy, once the gravity of the situation hit him full force. Sometime around three a.m. He had his doubts about how much sense he actually made, but he figured the other somewhat understood what the crisis was all about. Kyungsoo had to hand it to Baekhyun for being relatively calm and helping him breathe easy, with the occasional,  _ Goddamit, Kyungsoo! Shut up and listen to me! _

He hadn’t got much sleep though and had to skip out on his morning Pilates routine. It had just been a day and his life already felt like it was in shambles. He sighed. 

“Anyway~” Baekhyun interrupted his dramatic pity party. “Like I promised you, we’re gonna sit together at lunch and figure out who this lucky Kim is. Till then, you try to focus on your work, okay?”

Kyungsoo thought it was a rhetorical question, so stayed mum until Baekhyun kicked him on his shin lightly and repeated with a little more force, “Okay?”

He nodded in response. 

“I’ll see you later. Bye baby peach!” With that Baekhyun headed off to his own class.   
  


Lunch was one of the most important meals of the day, after breakfast of course, but here Kyungsoo was, at an empty corridor where Baekhyun had asked him to meet. They had made up some flimsy excuse to deter off their other friends, who he thought weren’t dumb enough to actually buy it. Probably they didn’t but that wasn’t number one on his list of worries right now. He wanted the engagement to be a secret in school for as long as he could manage, which might not be long, considering revealing to the public that his (would be) fiancé was taken kind of seemed like the point of this marriage. 

Kyungsoo spotted Baekhyun, seated cross legged atop the lone bench, with a concentrated look on his face. Judging by that, he had already started the process of narrowing down the list of potential Kims. He started talking as soon as Kyungsoo was in hearing range. 

“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?” This was punctuated by a thousand watt smile. Very suspicious.

“Uhh, bad?” Kyungsoo asked nervously, his palms were starting to get sweaty. 

“I did some snooping around and there are ten candidates so far who are likely to become your spouse. Did your parents tell you how old this guy is gonna be?” Baekhyun questioned. 

Kyungsoo could only shake his head. 

“Oh well, then it becomes fifteen.”

“Why, what range are you considering?!” He didn’t like it one bit, where this was all going.

“Honestly, from twenty to forty—“

“Baekhyun, what the fuck!” Kyungsoo shrieked. 

“Okay, okay, chill! It’s just really so much fun to mess with you.”

“My hands would have more fun messing with you— “ Kyungsoo didn’t have to see the lewd grin on the other’s face to know he should have worded it better. 

“Anyway, my best guesses out of all these people are Kim Jongdae, Kim Woobin, Kim Kibum and Kim Jaejoong.” Baekhyun informed.

Kyungsoo sat down beside Baekhyun to take a closer look at whatever he had open on his laptop. Whoa, it was a legit spreadsheet with family trees, net worth, career endeavours, the whole shebang more or less. He was impressed. 

“I think I’ve met Jongdae once. Cool guy and damn, does he have a voice to die for, he was screaming  _ and  _ whining and yet it sounded like melody to my ears.” Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at Baekhyun’s confused frown. “My ego inflated a lot that night.” He continued unabashedly. 

“Ewwww that is too much information, what the hell!” Baekhyun swatted at him. There was no heat behind it though. “Actually, you know there is another Kim in this list—“

Just then Kyungsoo’s phone dinged with an incoming text, interrupting his best friend. It was his mother. 

**From Mom:**

KYUNGSOO DEAR

MRS KIM WANTED TO SET UP A MEETING 

BETWEEN YOU AND HER SON TODAY. 

YOU KNOW, LIKE A DATE ;)

PLEASE BE HOME BY 5!

Kyungsoo had tried to point out to his mother how uncomfortable it is to find texts from her in all caps, but apparently, she thought it looked fun. 

**To Mom:**

That smiley just looks so wrong

At least tell me who is her son? :)

  
  


**From Mom:**

SILLY ME

DID I NEVER MENTION THAT BEFORE?!

HIS NAME IS JONGIN

BE HOME ON TIME BABY!

“Kim Jongin.” Kyungsoo spoke the name aloud. 

“Yeah, how did you know I was going to mention him?!” Baekhyun exclaimed, a little hint of wonder in his voice. 

“No, I’m getting married to Kim Jongin.” 

There was a moment of calm, before Baekhyun let out the loudest scream ever.

As per his mother’s instructions, Kyungsoo was home on time. Even before time. He was ushered into his room where he found someone had already picked what he should be wearing for this “date”. That ticked him off a little because excuse you, he might not look like it from his usual attire of hoodies paired with jeans or sweatpants, but he  _ was _ going to be a designer. He knew how to dress himself, when he had the energy for it, that is. He decided to look at his clothes after he had cleaned himself off all the grit and grub that came as a package deal with being a student. 

While in the shower, he thought back to what he had found out about Kim Jongin so far, from both Baekhyun and the Internet. 

The Kim family was one of the telecommunication giants in the country, with several other successful business ventures, not unlike Kyungsoo’s own family. Jongin was the youngest sibling as well with three older brothers, but still four years older than Kyungsoo. 

What caught Kyungsoo’s attention the most was the fact that Jongin was a model. He realised that he  _ had _ seen Jongin before, in magazine spreads and the likes, he just didn’t know his name. Blessed with golden skin, flawless proportions and a face that God had obviously spent a lot of time carving to perfection, he was a piece of art himself who showcased other pieces of art. Word was around that it was nepotism that helped him nab the title of Gucci’s Global Ambassador, but Kyungsoo had no doubts that Jongin would have rocked the modelling world with or without his family name. 

Once Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were down the internet rabbit hole, they just kept getting deeper and deeper, till they found several accounts of Jongin and his shenanigans with his significant others, both men and women alike. Some of them were too fantastical to be true and they found out soon enough, most of  _ those _ were fan fictions. Kyungsoo had no idea that such a thing existed—

A loud knock interrupted his train of thought. He might have been inside the bathroom longer than intended. He’d deny it if you asked him if he was stalling but that was exactly what he was doing. 

He had no idea why he was so nervous. It might be because he knew deep down that it would seem like he had a choice, but actually he didn’t. He’d  _ have _ to marry Jongin unless something was really amiss. 

Once out of the bathroom (in his underwear and bathing robe), he spotted one of the butlers, Mr. Cho, standing to the side, most probably the one who broke Kyungsoo out of his reverie. 

“Pardon my rudeness for cutting in on your shower time, Master Kyungsoo but Madame had asked me to relay that Mr. Kim would be coming to pick you up in half an hour.” Mr. Cho said. 

He gave a nod to indicate that he got the message and dismissed him with a wave. 

Moving towards the bed to look at what had been picked out for him to be dolled up in, he spotted some things he’d never consider wearing. But he also realised he didn't have much time left to exercise his autonomy on the way he looked tonight. Anyway his mom probably asked her personal stylist to do the job. 

Black faded skinny jeans and a black and white plaid jacket made up his outfit, accented by a red cashmere sweater. He eyed the accessories with a little bit of disdain, but went ahead with a thin choker, attached with a delicate chain, to complete his look. The fake ear cuffs on one side were a completely impulsive decision. Styling his hair and finishing his make-up to bring out his eyes and lips took another ten minutes and he was done! 

He still had some time to dilly dally but he squared his shoulders, grabbed his wallet and went downstairs. 

He was surprised, but not so much, to find both of his parents and his sister around. It made him feel a little uneasy but his life these past two days had been nothing but that. 

"Wow, who knew you can actually clean up pretty well, baby brother." Areum noona whistled to accentuate her point. 

Kyungsoo just gave her a scoff, as if they don't attend enough parties for which they are needed to 'clean up well'. 

She pulled him to the side and pinched his cheek. Like he'd stated before, somehow people around him liked to do that a lot. 

"How are you feeling? I was out on a business trip and just found out once I returned. I'm hurt you didn't even feel the need to inform me." His sister pouted. He felt slightly bad because Baekhyun was the first person who popped in his mind when he needed to vent. It's not like he wasn't close with his siblings, but they were always so busy now that their father had retired from his position as the CEO. 

"Honestly? I'm scared shitless. I feel like I was already on a rickety boat trying to traverse a vast ocean and then someone just decided to add a storm into the mix." Kyungsoo replied. 

"I can talk to mom and dad, you know?" That was a very tempting offer but it made him feel like a quitter.

"It might not end up being so bad.” His sister didn’t seem so convinced by it, but it would have to do for now. She sent him a look, meaning the offer was still on for whenever he needed it. 

Just then, they heard the bell ring and soon one of their maids was announcing that their guest was here. Kyungsoo took a steadying breath and headed towards the doorway. 

And then he stopped. 

Because dear God. Just. God. 

Jongin possibly was a God himself, might sound blasphemous, but pictures really did him no justice even though Kyungsoo had swooned at them too. 

He was dressed in navy wide legged trousers with a matching jacket, with the iconic Gucci pattern if Kyungsoo’s limited eyesight was serving him right, and a plain white T-shirt. His silver hair was artfully tousled and it was hard to describe, but there was something about him, that Kyungsoo just couldn’t stop staring. Maybe the extra shimmer on his eyelids and cheekbones. 

Unbeknownst to him, they were  _ both _ giving each other several once overs from the top to the bottom, almost in sync with each other. It wasn’t until someone loudly cleared their throat that the spell was broken. They even twitched in sync. Jongin gave him an awkward smile (which Kyungsoo returned), greeted his parents (with a ninety degree bow) and motioned for them to be on their way. 

Kyungsoo was charmed, to say the least. Not five minutes ago, he had been agonising over this and now just one simple gesture from this gorgeous  _ gorgeous  _ man, and he didn’t waste a single moment following after him. He hoped he wasn’t walking into a serial killer’s trap. You couldn’t blame him for being paranoid, he’d watched all the serial killer documentaries on Netflix. 

They were descending down a flight of stairs when Jongin suddenly tripped and Kyungsoo would thank all the deities up there for his reflexes to be sharp enough to shoot out a hand and keep his (would be) fiancé from actually falling. It was pretty endearing and also proved that he wasn’t the only one who had been nervous about it.   
  


They were in Jongin’s car, his very expensive car from the looks of it. Kyungsoo had one too that a lot of his classmates were envious of but somehow automobiles had never interested him much. There was a thick tension inside the vehicle though, mostly made out of embarrassment and nervous energy. 

Now Kyungsoo wasn’t the type to easily break ice when met with strangers but he felt like he had to do something, so he said, “I’m clumsy too, you know.”

That got Jongin to look at him, albeit briefly, because he was still the one driving. 

“I’m usually not…” Jongin started. And that was Kyungsoo’s cue for wanting the earth to just open up and swallow him. “this nervous.” Jongin finished.

“You do this usually then?” Kyungsoo’s brain to mouth filter sometimes just malfunctioned like this. 

“You’re sassy, I like that.” Jongin said, almost in a whisper. Then louder, “And to answer your question, yes, and no.”

“Meaning?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Meaning,” Jongin took a deep breath here and then let it out slowly. Kyungsoo didn’t know what  _ that _ was supposed to be about. “I’m usually subjected to a lot of situations that could be termed as nerve wracking, and I always sail past them with no trouble at all. But never before have I been on a  _ date  _ with possibly my future husband.” 

“Oh.” Kyungsoo had been calling Jongin as his (would be) fiancé in his head since he didn’t know his name at all, but hearing himself being referred to as ‘future husband’ made him feel some kind of way. He wouldn’t try to define it. Yet. 

“Did I overshare?” Jongin questioned.

“Nope! Not at all! I shouldn’t have asked that in the first place.” Kyungsoo replied sheepishly.

There was a moment of silence, before Jongin broke it again. Kyungsoo wondered if it was still his nervous energy doing all the talking. “Did you realise, we didn’t even introduce ourselves?”

Oh. They really didn’t. 

“I guess we were too busy ogling each other.” That was meant to be a thought. Not to be spoken aloud. Oh fuck.

Jongin giggled. And It was the cutest sound Kyungsoo had ever heard. Maybe his brain deserved a thank you for the nonsense rambling. 

“Well, you’re not wrong there, you  _ are _ quite a sight.” Jongin was smooth, when he wanted to be. 

“You’re not too bad yourself, Mr. Gucci’s Global Ambassador.” Two could play this game. 

“Oh, would you look at that, someone has done their homework.” 

Kyungsoo was going to get a whiplash from this conversation. They were just talking about being nervous and clumsy and now it looked like they were flirting. Were they? 

“Anyway, I’ll go first then.” Kyungsoo started, trying to steer the conversation away from something that could soon turn awkward. “Hi, I’m Do Kyungsoo. I’m not a photographer but I can picture you and me together.” 

The silence after that was deafening. So much for not being awkward.

Then Jongin burst out laughing. He pulled over the car because he just couldn’t stop. Soon enough, Kyungsoo joined in with his own little giggles. Jongin’s laugh was infectious like that. 

“Oh my god,” Jongin struggled to get his words out, “I didn’t peg you for the type to be using pickup lines. You are so cute! It’s my turn now.” He made a show of trying to think, then, “Hi, I’m Kim Jongin. I was wondering if you had an extra heart. Mine was just stolen.”

They both were back again in a giggle fit. 

Conversation was easy for them after that, at least till they reached the restaurant where Jongin had made a reservation at. 

“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry, I should have asked you earlier if you were okay with Italian!” Jongin gave him a horrified look, as they neared the foyer of the fancy dining place. 

“Well, lucky for you, Italian happens to be one of my favourites.” Kyungsoo could have messed with him some, but he decided to let it go since it was their first date, after all. It didn’t even feel like it anymore. It was a little alarming how easily he’d let Jongin worm his way through his usual tough walls. 

After they were seated in their private room in  _ Boccalino  _ and done with giving their orders to the server (Kyungsoo let Jongin do the honours since he had apparently been here before and wanted them to try the house special), a thought started gnawing at Kyungsoo’s mind. He decided to just ask and get it out of the way. 

“Jongin.” Kyungsoo called to get the other’s attention that was focused on his phone right now, “don’t take it the wrong way but,” he hesitated. How was he even supposed to word it so that it didn’t seem rude? Well, screw it, the way he had started this conversation, already sounded pretty rude. Jongin was intently listening and giving him time to pace it.

“Why are you marrying me?” There, the cat was out of the bag now. 

“Why do you think?” Jongin questioned back. 

Dammit! That was unfair. But okay, Kyungsoo would answer him, since Jongin looked genuinely curious and didn’t seem to mean it as a challenge.

“To be very honest, I couldn’t think of a single reason why my parents who had always been so liberal, would impose a marriage on me, so suddenly.” Kyungsoo saw Jongin wince at the word ‘impose’ but that was what it was. “I was told, your family had asked for our help in steering away some persistent suitors. But there are a million other ways of doing so. Is there some scandal they are trying to bury, Jongin? Something that  _ would _ be buried if two powerful families came together to do it.”

Jongin remained silent and that was a little scary. Their server chose that moment to arrive with their appetisers and drinks (non alcoholic because both of them wanted to be sober for this meeting). Kyungsoo’s stomach was in knots by now. Why was Jongin still silent? 

“I didn’t think we’d jump right into this,” Jongin took a sip of his drink and cleared his throat. He stared down at his plate, but continued, “That’s fair enough, you deserve to know what you’d be walking into.” 

“You make it sound very…..” Kyungsoo whispered, trailing off.

Jongin chuckled. “Uh, sorry to word it that way but it is a leash.  _ You _ are the leash, to be more specific.”

He waited for Jongin to actually be _ more specific _ , but it looked like he wouldn’t do so.

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo frowned. 

"Where do I even begin?" Jongin muttered, but he was loud enough to be heard by Kyungsoo. "Let's just say, I've never really done what had been expected of me. But I guess, I got lucky and found my way through life, more or less. Doesn't mean my parents were happy with me landing a job in the modelling industry when I was still in high school."

Kyungsoo still couldn't understand where this was going, but he decided to be patient. It seemed like an uncomfortable topic for Jongin judging by how he avoided eye contact and kept fidgeting. Kyungsoo felt slightly bad for making Jongin spill these kinds of beans right on their first meeting but he needed to know. 

"They wanted me to refuse and follow along to  _ their _ future plans for me. Of course, I was having none of it, and I did what I had to do. Some things might have happened recently though, so their urge to find an  _ anchor _ ," Jongin emphasised this with actual air quotes, "for me has grown stronger than ever. I didn't have the energy to keep fighting and defend something that I myself am not sure of anymore." Jongin sighed. 

There were a lot of things Jongin wasn't telling him, that was for sure. But Kyungsoo also didn't want to push him so much. Maybe he'd find out, eventually. If they continued doing this. He realised he was actually okay with this, even with all the shady business involved. Sometimes, he didn't understand it at all how his mind worked. 

"At least they are respecting your  _ preferences _ , I‘m guessing?" Kyungsoo shrugged, hoping Jongin understood what he was referring to. 

Jongin finally looked back at him and he seemed to be blushing, or it was just the light. Eitherway, it was cute. 

"I'll understand, you know, if you don't want to go through with this." Jongin started. Kyungsoo was about to respond, when the other continued speaking, "No, no, just hear me out. There's literally nothing in it for you, You don't have to force yourself to marry some older guy just because your parents asked you to!" 

Kyungsoo chuckled at that. Jongin just looked confused now, so Kyungsoo reached out a hand and stopped right in front of Jongin’s face, waiting for permission. The model still looked like he didn’t know what the hell was happening but moved his face forward a little. Kyungsoo smoothed out the furrow in between the other’s eyebrows. 

“I don’t really mind. I say we give this a chance and see what comes out of it.” Kyungsoo said, voicing his thoughts from earlier. 

Jongin went still at that, looking plenty conflicted. 

“Unless…  _ you _ don’t really want to…” Kyungsoo trailed off. Despite Jongin’s resigned demeanour, despite whatever their parents wanted, Kyungsoo didn’t want to be the reason for someone’s unhappiness. 

“No, I’m willing too.” Jongin replied, resolutely, after a while. 

“Good.” Kyungsoo smiled. Jongin returned it. It was so open and beautiful, honestly the room seemed to get a tad brighter, but those were thoughts Kyungsoo decided to shove at the back of his mind for right now. 

There were suddenly a lot of uncertainties in Kyungsoo’s life. Would he and Jongin get along, enough for it to lead to an engagement? A wedding? What would their parents do if this didn’t work out? Would Kyungsoo manage to come up with a theme and a direction for his collection within the assigned timeline? Something that actually inspired him enough to make him finish his graduation project without procrastinating much?

He realised the last one was the one he needed to figure out first. 

Before he could start to overthink and completely erase the mesmerising effects of Jongin’s smile on his soul, the rest of their dinner arrived. It smelt  _ heavenly _ and Jongin was already gaining favours in his books from his choices in food alone. 

“So, mmm” Jongin began, trying to stifle some  _ pleased _ noises but Kyungsoo heard them anyway, “the elephant is out of the room now, I presume.” He gave Kyungsoo a meaningful look. 

Kyungsoo laughed. “It was just a baby elephant, but yes it’s gone. Don’t know when it’s mother would come knocking though.” 

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it—“

“That is definitely  _ not _ how the saying goes.” 

“Anyway, I wanted to ask, are you free coming Saturday? We could watch a movie maybe, or just get to know each other, anything you want?” Jongin asked. 

Kyungsoo pretended to think about it for a minute, enjoying seeing Jongin squirm in his seat. 

“If only you let me meet your poodles.” He replied. Jongin nodded eagerly and was already pulling out his phone to show him pictures. 

It was starting to look like Kyungsoo might not have to take up his sister’s offer to talk their parents out of this arrangement. But maybe it was still too early to come to conclusions. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I have lots of things planned for this story, so I hope you won’t give up on this! From what I imagine now, there are going to be about 4-5 chapters, in total. Let me know what you think? I’m soft, please don’t be mean ;-;


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